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16—47372 



POEMS 



ON 



SLAVERY 







HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 



SECOND editio:;. 



CAMBRIDGE: 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN OWEN. 



M DCCC XLII. 



POEMS ON SLAVERY. 



^)UM ! C 



POEMS 



ON 



SLAVERY. 



BY 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 



SECOND EDITION. 



CAMBRIDGE: 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN OWEN. 



M DCCC XLII. 



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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and 
forty-two, by H. W. Longfellow, in the Clerk's office of the District 
Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



CAMBRIDGE: 
METCALF, KEITH, AND NICHOLS, 

PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

To William E. Channing 9 

The Slave's Dream 11 

The Good Part 15 

The Slave in the Dismal Swamp . . 18 
The Slave singing at Midnight . . .21 

The Witnesses 23 

The Quadroon Girl 26 

The Warning 30 



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[The following poems, with one exception, were written at 
sea, in the latter part of October. I had not then heard 
of Dr. Channing's death. Since that event, the poem 
addressed to him is no longer appropriate. I have de- 
cided, however, to let it remain as it was written, a fee- 
ble testimony of my admiration for a great and good man ] 



POEMS 



The noble horse, 
That, in his fiery youth, from his wide nostrils 
Neighed courage to his rider, and brake through 
Groves of opposed pikes, bearing his lord 
Safe to triumphant victory, old or wounded, 
Was set at liberty and freed from service. 
The Athenian mules, that from the quarry drew 
Marble, hewed for the Temple of the Gods, 
The great work ended, were dismissed and fed 
At the public cost ; nay, faithful dogs have found 
Their sepulchres ; but man, to man more cruel, 
Appoints no end to the sufferings of his slave. 

Massinger. 



TO WILLIAM E. CHANNING. 



The pages of thy book I read, 

And as I closed each one, 
My heart, responding, ever said, 

u Servant of God ! well done ! " 

Well done ! Thy words are great and bold ; 

At times they seem to me, 
Like Luther's, in the days of old, 

Half-battles for the free. 



-" ' « . ,, .■ ■■ _ - ■ *— -»■ ' »£ 



10 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

Go on, until this land revokes 

The old and chartered Lie, 
The feudal curse, whose whips and yokes 

Insult humanity. 

A voice is ever at thy side 

Speaking in tones of might, 
Like the prophetic voice, that cried 

To John in Patmos, "Write ! " 

Write ! and tell out this bloody tale ; 

Record this dire eclipse, 
This Day of Wrath, this Endless Wail, 

This dread Apocalypse ! 



11 



THE SLAVE'S DREAM. 



Beside the ungathered rice he lay, 

His sickle in his hand ; 
His breast was bare, his matted hair 

Was buried in the sand. 
Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep, 

He saw his Native Land. 



— . 



12 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

Wide through the landscape of his dreams 

The lordly Niger flowed ; 
Beneath the palm-trees on the plain 

Once more a king he strode ; 
And heard the tinkling caravans 

Descend the mountain-road. 

He saw once more his dark-eyed queen 

Among her children stand ; 
They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks. 

They held him by the hand ! — 
A tear burst from the sleeper's lids 

And fell into the sand. 

And then at furious speed he rode 

Along the Niger's bank ; 
His bridle-reins were golden chains, 

And, with a martial clank, 
At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel 

Smiting his stallion's flank. 



THE SLAVE'S DREAM. 13 

Before him, like a blood-red flag, 

The bright flamingoes flew ; 
From morn till night he followed their flight, 

O'er plains where the tamarind grew, 
Till he saw the roofs of C afire huts, 

And the ocean rose to view. 

At night he heard the lion roar, 

And the hyaena scream, 
And the river-horse, as he crushed the reeds 

Beside some hidden stream ; 
And it passed, like a glorious roll of drums, 

Through the triumph of his dream. 

The forests, with their myriad tongues, 

Shouted of liberty ; 
And the Blast of the Desert cried aloud, 

With a voice so wild and free, 
That he started in his sleep and smiled 

At their tempestuous glee. 



-»■ • ' ■*> 



14 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

He did not feel the driver's whip, 

Nor the burning heat of day ; 
For Death had illumined the Land of Sleep, 

And his lifeless body lay 
A worn-out fetter, that the soul 

Had broken and thrown away ! 



15 



THE GOOD PART, 



THAT SHALL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY. 



She dwells by Great Kenhawa's side. 

In valleys green and cool ; 
And all her hope and all her pride 

Are in the village school. 

Her soul, like the transparent air 
That robes the hills above, 

Though not of earth, encircles there 
All things with arms of love. 






16 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

And thus she walks among her girls 
With praise and mild rebukes ; 

Subduing e'en rude village churls 
By her angelic looks. 

She reads to them at eventide 
Of One who came to save ; 

To cast the captive's chains aside, 
And liberate the slave. 

And oft the blessed time foretells 
When all men shall be free ; 

And musical, as silver bells, 
Their falling chains shall be. 

And following her beloved Lord, 

In decent poverty, 
She makes her life one sweet record 

And deed of charity. 



THE GOOD PART. 17 

For she was rich, and gave up all 

To break the iron bands 
Of those who waited in her hall, 

And labored in her lands. 

Long since beyond the Southern Sea 
Their outbound sails have sped, 

While she, in meek humility, 
Now earns her daily bread. 

It is their prayers, which never cease, 
That clothe her with such grace ; 

Their blessing is the light of peace 
That shines upon her face. 



18 



THE SLAVE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP. 



In dark fens of the Dismal Swamp 

The hunted Negro lay ; 
He saw the fire of the midnight camp, 
And heard at times a horse's tramp 

And a bloodhound's distant bay. 



Where will-o'-the-wisps and glowworms shine, 

In bulrush and in brake ; 
Where waving mosses shroud the pine, 
And the cedar grows, and the poisonous vine 

Is spotted like the snake ; 



m ■■>■«■■ » *■«■' 



THE SLAVE IN THE DISMAL SWAMP. 19 

Where hardly a human foot could pass, 

Or a human heart would dare, 
On the quaking turf of the green morass 
He crouched in the rank and tangled grass, 

Like a wild beast in his lair. 



A poor old slave, infirm and lame ; 

Great scars deformed his face ; 
On his forehead he bore the brand of shame, 
And the rags, that hid his mangled frame, 

"Were the livery of disgrace. 



All things above were bright and fair, 

All things were glad and free ; 
Lithe squirrels darted here and there, 
And wild birds filled the echoing air 
With songs of Liberty ! 



20 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

On him alone was the doom of pain, 

From the morning of his birth ; 
On him alone the curse of Cain 
Fell, like a flail on the garnered grain, 
And struck him to the earth ! 



21 



THE SLAVE SINGING AT MIDNIGHT. 



Loud he sang the psalm of David! 
He, a Negro and enslaved, 
Sang of Israel's victory, 
Sang of Zion, bright and free. 

In that hour, when night is calmest, 
Sang he from the Hebrew Psalmist, 
In a voice so sweet and clear 
That I could not choose but hear, 



22 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

Songs of triumph, and ascriptions, 
Such as reached the swart Egyptians, 
When upon the Red Sea coast 
Perished Pharaoh and his host. 

And the voice of his devotion 
Filled my soul with strange emotion ; 
For its tones by turns were glad, 
Sweetly solemn, wildly sad. 

Paul and Silas, in their prison, 
Sang of Christ, the Lord arisen, 
And an earthquake's arm of might 
Broke their dungeon-gates at night. 

But, alas ! what holy angel 
Brings the Slave this glad evangel ? 
And what earthquake's arm of might 
Breaks his dungeon-gates at night ? 



23 



THE WITNESSES. 



In Ocean's wide domains, 
Half buried in the sands. 

Lie skeletons in chains, 

With shackled feet and hands. 

Beyond the fall of dews, 
Deeper than plummet lies, 

Float ships, with all their crews, 
No more to sink or rise. 



24 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

There the black Slave-ship swims, 
Freighted with human forms, 

Whose fettered, fleshless limbs 
Are not the sport of storms. 

These are the bones of Slaves ; 

They gleam from the abyss ; 
They cry, from yawning waves, 

" We are the Witnesses ! " 

Within Earth's wide domains 
Are markets for men's lives ; 

Their necks are galled with chains, 
Their wrists are cramped with gyves. 

Dead bodies, that the kite 
In deserts makes its prey ; 

Murders, that with affright 

Scare schoolboys from their play ! 



THE WITNESSES. 25 

All evil thoughts and deeds ; 

Anger, and lust, and pride ; 
The foulest, rankest weeds, 

That choke Life's groaning tide ! 

These are the woes of Slaves ; 

They glare from the abyss ; 
They cry, from unknown graves, 

"We are the Witnesses ! " 



26 



THE QUADROON GIRL. 



The Slaver in the broad lagoon 
Lay moored with idle sail ; 

He waited for the rising moon, 
And for the evening gale. 

Under the shore his boat was tied, 
And all her listless crew 

"Watched the gray alligator slide 
Into the still bayou. 



THE QUADROON GIRL. 27 

Odors of orange-flowers, and spice, 
Reached them from time to time, 

Like airs that breathe from Paradise 
Upon a world of crime. 

The Planter, under his roof of thatch, 
Smoked thoughtfully and slow ; 

The Slaver's thumb was on the latch, 
He seemed in haste to go. 

He said, "My ship at anchor rides 

In yonder broad lagoon ; 
I only wait the evening tides, 

And the rising of the moon." 

Before them, with her face upraised, 

In timid attitude, 
Like one half curious, half amazed, 

A Quadroon maiden stood. 



28 POEMS ON SLAVERY. 

Her eyes were, like a falcon's, gray, 
Her arms and neck were bare ; 

No garment she wore save a kirtle gay, 
And her own long, raven hair. 

And on her lips there played a smile 

As holy, meek, and faint, 
As lights in some cathedral aisle 

The features of a saint. 

" The soil is barren, — the farm is old ; " 
The thoughtful Planter said ; 

Then looked upon the Slaver's gold, 
And then upon the maid. 

His heart within him was at strife 
With such accursed gains ; 

For he knew whose passions gave her life. 
Whose blood ran in her veins. 



THE QUADROON GIRL. 29 

But the voice of nature was too weak ; 

He took the glittering gold ! 
Then pale as death grew the maiden's cheek, 

Her hands as icy cold. 

The Slaver led her from the door, 

He led her by the hand, 
To be his slave and paramour 

In a strange and distant land ! 



30 



THE WARNING. 



Beware ! The Israelite of old, who tore 
The lion in his path, — when, poor and blind, 

He saw the blessed light of heaven no more, 
Shorn of his noble strength and forced to grind 

In prison, and at last led forth to be 

A pander to Philistine revelry, — 

Upon the pillars of the temple laid 

His desperate hands, and in its overthrow 

Destroyed himself, and with him those who made 
A cruel mockery of his sightless woe ; 

The poor, blind Slave, the scoff and jest of all, 

Expired, and thousands perished in the fall ! 



fifliitt^MtiHI 



THE WARNING. 31 

There is a poor, blind Samson in this land, 
Shorn of his strength, and bound in bonds of 
steel, 

Who may, in some grim revel, raise his hand, 
And shake the pillars of this Commonweal, 

Till the vast Temple of our liberties 

A shapeless mass of wreck and rubbish lies. 



END. 



■ ■^^^■^ 



WORKS 

PUBLISHED BY JOHN OWEN, 
CAMBRIDGE. 



VOICES OF THE NIGHT. 

BY 
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. 

6th Edition. 16mo. Boards. 



II. 

THE SAME. 

Royal 8vo. Fine paper. Boards. 
III. 

BALLADS AND OTHER. POEMS 

BY 
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, 

AUTHOR OF "VOICES OF THE NIGHT," "HYPERION," ETC. 

4th Edition. 16mo. Boards. 
IV. 

THE SAME. 

Royal 8vo. Fine paper. Boards. 







V. 

THE 

HISTORY 

OF 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY 



Br JOSIAH aUINCl r , LL.D., 

PRESIDENT OP THE UNIVERSITY. 



2 Vols. Royal 8vo. Cloth. 21 Engravings. 
VI. 

AN INQUIRY 

INTO THE 

FOUNDATION, EVIDENCES, AND TRUTHS 

op 

RELIGION. 

By HENRY WARE, D. D., 

LATE HOLLIS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY IN HARVARD COLLEGE. 



2 Vols. 12mo. Cloth. 



VII. 

THE CLOUDS OF ARISTOPHANES. 

WITH NOTES. 
By C. C. FELTON, 

EI.IOT PROFESSOR OF GREEK LITERATURE IN T HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

12mo. Cloth. 



VIII. 

PROF. LTEBIG'S REPORT ON ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
PART I. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. 

CHEMISTRY 

IN ITS 

APPLICATION TO AGRICULTURE A^D PHYSIOLOGY. 

BY 

JUSTUS LIEB1G, M. D., Ph. D., F. R. S., M. R. I. A., 

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GIESSEN, ETC. 

EDITED FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF THE AUTHOR, 
By LYON PLAYFAIR, Ph.D. 

WITH VERY NUMEROUS ADDITIONS, AND A NEW CHAPTER ON SOILS. 

THIRD AMERICAN, FROM THE SECOND ENGLISH EDITION, 

WITH NOTES AND APPENDIX, 

By JOHN W. WEBSTER, M.D., 

ERVING PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

12mo. Cloth. 



IX. 
PART II. ANIMAL CHEMISTRY, 

ANIMAL CHEMISTRY, 

OR ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN ITS 

APPLICATION TO PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY. 

BY 

JUSTUS LIEDIG, M D , Ph. D., F. R.S , M. R. I. A., 

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GIESSEN, ETC. 

EDITED FROM THE AUTHOR'S MANUSCRIPT, 
By WILLIAM GREGORY, M. D , F R.S E., M.R. I.A., 

PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE AND CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY 
AND KING'S COLLEGE, ABERDEEN. 

WITH ADDITIONS, NOTES, AND CORRECTIONS, 
By Dr. GREGORY, 

AND OTHERS 

By JOHN W. WEBSTER, M. D., 

ERVING PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

12mo. Cloth. 



X. 

A NARRATIVE OF VOYAGES 

AND 

COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES. 

By RICHARD J. CLEVELAND. 

2 Vols. 12mo. Cloth. 



XI. 

LECTURES ON MODERN HISTORY 

FROM 

THE IRRUPTION OF THE NORTHERN NATIONS 

TO THE 

CLOSE OF THE AMERICAN! REVOLUTION. 
By WILLIAM SMYTH, 

PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. 

FROM THE SECOND LONDON EDITION, 
WITH A PREFACE, LIST OF BOOKS ON AMERICAN HISTORY, &c, 
By JARED SPARKS, LL. D., 

PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY 
IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

2 Vols. 8vo. Cloth. 
XII. 

HENRY OF OFTERDINGEN: 

A ROMANCE. 

FROM THE GERMAN OF 

NOVALIS (FRIEDR1CH von HARDENBERG). 
12mo. Cloth. 



WORKS IN PRESS. 



i. 
A TREATISE ON MINERALOGY, 

ON THE BASIS OF THOMSON'S OUTLINES, 
WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONS; 

COMPRISING 

THE DESCRIPTION OP ALL THE NEW AMERICAN AND FOREIGN 
MINERALS, THEIR LOCALITIES, &c. 

DESIGNED AS A TEXT-BOOK FOR STUDENTS, TRAVELLERS, AND 
PERSONS ATTENDING LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE. 

By JOHN W. WEBSTER, M. D., 

ERVING PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY 
IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 

8vo. 

II. 
THE EVIDENCES 

OF THE 

GENUINENESS OF THE GOSPELS. 

Br ANDREWS NORTON. 
Vols. II. & III. 

BEING THE COMPLETION OF THE WORK. 

8vo. 



III. 
THE SPANISH STUDENT 

A DRAMA : IN THREE ACTS. 

BY 

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, 

AUTHOR OF "VOICES OF THE NIGHT," "HYPERION," ETC. 

16mo. 



CAMBRIDGE: 
METCALF, KEITH, AND NICHOLS, 

PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 



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